It’s been almost two months since Toronto starter Bowden Francis picked up a victory, but Blue Jays manager John Schneider says he still has trust in the 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander heading into Saturday afternoon’s road start against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Francis (2-8, 6.12 ERA) has dropped six straight decisions since a 3-1 home win over the Seattle Mariners on April 18 and has allowed 19 home runs (second in the American League) in 60 1/3 innings. But Schneider points to an 8-5 record and 3.30 ERA in 2024 for sticking with Francis in the rotation.
“We trust him,” Schneider told MLB.com after Francis allowed four runs on five hits, including back-to-back home runs to Brooks Lee and Christian Vasquez, and five walks over 3 1/3 innings in last Sunday’s 6-3 loss at Minnesota. “He’s shown that he can do it. We’ve just got to figure a way to get him back on track.
“We need him. That’s the bottom line. We need him to help contribute and be the pitcher he can be.”
Besides allowing home runs, Francis has struggled with his command, yielding an average of 3.58 walks per nine innings.
“Some of it is falling behind. Some of it is sequencing stuff, when sometimes I put myself in a hole with some pitches and there’s less room for error,” Francis said. “I’ve got to continue to keep diagnosing, keep diving into what’s going on and trying to figure it out, because I’m not doing what I want to do right now.”
Trying to get back on track against the Phillies won’t be easy.
Philadelphia, which won the three-game interleague series opener 8-0 on Friday night, scored seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings against Francis in an 8-3 victory on June 3 at Toronto.
Trea Turner and Bryce Harper both hit home runs in that contest as Francis fell to 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against the Phillies while yielding five homers in just 8 2/3 innings.
Left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (5-2, 3.10), who is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays, gets the start for Philadelphia, which has won three of its last four games.
Sanchez is coming off a tough 2-1 loss to Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates last Sunday when he allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings while striking out nine.
“I thought he was good,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. “The velocity was down a little bit tonight. It just shows you he can pitch without velocity. He’s got that great changeup, and his slider has really improved. You know, changeup to righties, slider to lefties. He just needs to attack more with his fastball.”
Sanchez has allowed three runs or fewer in 11 straight starts, including the June 3 win against Francis when he gave up one run — a homer to Davis Schneider — on four hits and four walks over six innings while striking out four.
–Field Level Media
